Basic Lens Calculator

The calculators below will help you determine the lens focal length you need. It is assumed the camera's sensor has a 4:3 aspect ratio, the sensor is a common size, and that you will use all the pixels.

Or, try our Machine Vision Lens Calculator instead. It is more flexible, and is smart enough to suggest specific lenses for your next project.

Complete the fields below to calculate the focal length of the ideal lens.


Complete the fields below to calculate the aproximate working distance. (This is the distance between the lens and the object to be imaged.)


Complete the fields below to calculate the aproximate field of view.


These lens calculators are for general purpose entocentric machine vision lenses. Not sure about your camera's sensor size? Want more precise results? Try our machine vision lens calculator. It will search our catalog for your camera or image sensor, or let you enter your camera's resolution and pixel size.

With the exception of lens focal length, the parameters you enter may be in any dimensional unit (mm, cm, inches, or whatever). The result will be in the same dimensional unit.
Lens focal length is always in mm.
Calculators assume sensor has 4:3 aspect ratio.
First enter your application parameters in Calculator #1. This will help you determine the ideal lens focal length.
You're not likely to find a lens having the exact focal length suggested by Calculator #1. Therefore, you'll need to adjust the working distance and/or the field of view based on the focal lengths commonly available.
Using a common lens focal length, use Calculator #2 to determine the working distance necessary to get your desired field of view. Or, use Calculator #3 to determine the field of view resulting from a fixed working distance.
Lenses having focal lengths of 6, 8, 12, 16, 25, 35 and 50 mm are commonly available. Using a shorter focal length lens decreases your working distance and therefore captures more light, but the resulting image may have some distortion. A 16mm lens is often a good compromise.
Keep in mind that a smaller sensor size will increase the working distance.
Calculators assume field of view width is in direction of the camera sensor's width. If your field of view's height is greater than it's width, consider rotating the camera 90 degress.
There are many other factors to consider beyond lens focal length. We'd be glad to help you select a lens appropriate for your project.

Additional lens calculators:

Machine Vision Lens Calculator